Still from REAPER: Leon.
© CW
Mania Grade: B+
Episode: Leon
Starring: Bret Harrison, Ray Wise, Missy Peregrym, Tyler Labine
Produced By: Kevin Smith
Episode: Leon
Starring: Bret Harrison, Ray Wise, Missy Peregrym, Tyler Labine
Produced By: Kevin Smith
REAPER: Leon
By: Stephen LackeyReview Date: Thursday, November 01, 2007
Patton Oswalt is a funny dude, someone I don’t see enough. When he appeared in the opening moments of this week’s, Reaper I couldn’t have been happier. I expected him to be hilarious and I wasn’t let down. He plays a demon named Leon that Sock and Sam capture right at the beginning of the episode but they can’t drop off at the DMV because the demons have taken a few days off for Halloween. Leon is a killer desperate to redeem himself and since his return to Earth he’s been obsessed with therapy. Since Leon is stuck hanging around with Sock and Sam until the DMV from Hell reopens he wants to help out with catching this week’s demon. The devil appears to Sam and delivers him Spike, a hilarious dog, and a thermometer to catch a new demon that’s on the loose. The devil is depressed this week because of the commercialization of evil. Just the thought of that is funny and it’s executed superbly in a solemn scene between the devil and Sam.
This week’s demon, The Butcher of Ballard, gets short sheeted in favor of more time with Sam, Sock, and Leon and that’s a good thing. All three of these guys are funny and I never got tired of scenes focused on the three of them. Having a demon hang out with the three of them throughout an episode also helps break up the formula a bit. Speaking of formula, there is one downside to this episode though, and it’s something I’ve complained about before. What I’m speaking of is the relationship between Andi and Sam. Andi has decided that she can’t be friends with Sam anymore because she can’t trust him after what he did last week. One thing that bugged me is how she attempts to still buddy up with Sock in a few scenes when she knows that he and Sam are best friends. Is she really the kind of girl that would drive a wedge between Sam and Sock? At any rate, the relationship between Andi and Sam is getting stale quickly. I almost think he should just tell her and bring her into the fold because this relationship isn’t the glue that’s going to give Reaper longevity. They may have once thought it might but it’s obvious now that it’s going to get old quick. The devil warned Sam that he shouldn’t tell her in a previous episode and in this episode the devil tells Sam that betrayal is a defining trait of humanity. By the end of this episode Sam tells the devil that he’s wrong and that Sam knows his friends will always be there for him. So it seems logical that Sam would go against the devil and tell Andi everything.
There is one new story element that could play into something that could become glue for the series and that’s the subplot introduced last week with Sam’s father and the contract. We need to start seeing more of that character and learning what he’s truly up too. I laughed a good bit of this episode but I also wondered how long I could stay with the formula of the series as far as the Sam and Andi relationship goes. As much as this episode twisted up the formula of Reaper, at its core, the episode is still the same and the ones before it; catch the demon screw up with the girl. The time is coming for the series to do something different, to add something to its bag of tricks. I’ve heard the ratings aren’t where the network had hoped they’d be, so if the creators don’t do something quick, the series might not get the chance to live up to its potential.
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Everything I've seen of this show has been of a one-note variety so far. If something interesting doesn't happen to the character development in next week's episode, I'm done with this flavorless series.